【Era of Succession Year 150: Spring / 1】
Yo.
It’s me, the guy who kicked the bucket while being prayed for.
I wonder if Eryuk made it home okay.
Not that my worrying is going to change anything.
This time, I’m… well, a bandit is a bandit, but my “residence” is a bit unusual.
It’s a fortress. It’s an antique, but it seems it still functions. The Succession era is a time of war. Battles happen everywhere, and territories and maps are constantly being redrawn.
It often happens that a fortress protecting the front lines suddenly loses its defensive significance.
Such bases become targets for repurposing. For guys who just want a roof over their heads, a solidly built fortress is a luxury property.
Looking around, quite a few bandits are stationed here.
“A job came in from the Master! He says to kill everyone who passes through here!!”
A large, bearded man shouts in a gravelly voice.
He’s the Boss here, but the fact that he calls someone “Master” means there’s someone even higher up.
If you ask me if I’m curious, I am, but it’s also true that worrying about it won’t help. I might just die easily again, anyway.
“Kill everyone? You mean even adventurers?”
One of the underlings asks.
Generally, there’s a massive gap in combat power between adventurers and bandits.
Beginners are no problem, but if the opponent has some experience, the bandits get unilaterally slaughtered.
Talent, equipment, stamina—everything is different.
That’s why the underling asked, fearing for his life. And behind that, I can see his true feelings: he doesn’t want to fight.
Everyone seems to feel the same.
“You lot, are you satisfied with just this fortress?”
“Well, compared to a cave…”
“Idiot! You have no ambition! If you’re a man, it’s gotta be the city! Establishing a base in the city is every bandit’s greatest dream, isn’t it?!”
“That’s why it’s called a dream, Boss. Because it won’t come true.”
“No! If the Master plays his cards right, the dream will come true. I heard most of the preparations are already done. This ‘kill everyone’ job is the final push.”
The bandits look at each other.
“Living in a city… we aren’t exactly ‘King bandits’ from the legends.”
“But if this works, we could become King bandits. No, maybe even bandits that surpass the legends!”
There are bedtime stories passed down among bandits. However, what a “King bandit” actually is has been distorted through oral tradition, so the truth is lost.
Regardless, it’s a legend powerful enough to fire them up.
“If that’s how it is, let’s do it, Boss!!”
Each of them raised their weapons and let out shouts of excitement.
✘✘✘
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And so, to the highway.
Even if I have to fight adventurers, I really don’t want to lay a hand on people who can’t fight back.
It’s ironic that in times like these, my physical specs are actually quite high.
I’m tall. Lots of muscle. I don’t have formal training, but even with simple brute force, swinging the axe hanging at my waist would make me a significant threat.
The Boss is here with four of his inner circle. And me. Apparently, a lot of the others are lying in wait elsewhere.
” Boss, I see a carriage.”
“Alright. Go stop it!”
At his command, two of the inner circle stopped it by force. Seeing how they did it without injuring the horses, I could tell these guys were veterans at this highway business.
Three adventurers stepped out of the carriage. As soon as one of them saw the bandits who stopped the carriage, he cut them down.
I couldn’t hear well from here, but it seemed the bandits gave a warning and did something (probably a provocation).
“Move out, boys!”
The Boss, enraged that his men were killed, charged in.
The adventurer who attacked was killed by the Boss’s charge.
Of the remaining two, one readied a staff. The other drew a sword from his waist and—…that blonde hair. No mistake. It’s Eryuk.
Should I be happy he’s safe, or worried that he’s in this mess?
No, my job is already decided.
“UOOOO!!”
I put all my spirit into it and killed two of the inner circle bandits nearby in a single breath.
Man, what a waste of power for a bandit. I could have been a decent adventurer with this strength, but I’m just letting it go to waste.
“W-What are you do—”
“Shut up!!”
I buried my axe into the last one.
Now, if I leave it like this, Eryuk and his friend will be confused. I need to create a situation that’s easy to understand at a glance.
” Boss! I’m sick and tired of just being a bandit who rampages on the highway! I’m going to be a bandit with convictions!!”
“W-What are you talking about?!”
“My conviction is to be the bandit-Hunting bandit!!”
I shouted and charged.
The Boss clicked his tongue and readied his scimitar to face me.
I have the advantage in physique. But with him guarding so solidly, a throw would likely be countered.
My best bet is to close in and swing the axe.
Believing in that chance, I stepped in and swung. But he parried it perfectly with his scimitar and easily split my torso open.
But I’m not dying for nothing. I grabbed the scimitar that had cut deep into me.
“Adventurer! Kill the Boss!!”
At my voice, Eryuk moved and split the Boss’s head in two.
He’s got good skills. …Wait, could he have handled this even if I hadn’t made such a flashy scene?
Maybe I misjudged his strength because I’d only seen him when he was weakened.
Well, whatever. My vision is growing dark. As long as Eryuk finished the fight without injury… Is it arrogant to wish that someone I’ve formed a connection with lives a long life?
Eventually, my vision vanished completely, and my consciousness dissolved into the darkness once more.
✘✘✘
“That was a strange bandit…”
The adventurer with the staff gave a brief comment on the bandit who had suddenly betrayed his own.
“It seems I have a constitution that easily forms connections with bandits. Thanks to that, I survived again today.”
Eryuk’s actual skill wasn’t exceptionally high. He was a jack-of-all-trades who could handle many things, but since he didn’t have a single overwhelming specialty, he would struggle against someone who relied on pure physical power like the Boss or the bandit who betrayed them.
The staff-wielding adventurer and the one who had just been killed were only a temporary party. If he had trusted companions, he could use his versatility as a weapon, but since it hadn’t been long since he moved, he didn’t have such friends yet.
“A strange constitution, but thanks to that, I was saved too. …Oh, looks like our scheduled meeting partners are here. Looks like they were attacked on their end, too.”
In the distance were two women: one in knightly armor and another in clerical robes.
Not a single scratch on them. However, there was blood on the knight’s sword. They weren’t even out of breath. They were alert, but clearly composed.
Eryuk understood immediately that they were on a different level.
“Are you the two the Guild mentioned?”
“Yes. We are investigating issues in Liselka.”
She took a tally-stick from her bag. What Eryuk and the others had accepted was a request to gather information on [a certain city] that Uroguma and other guilds were investigating.
Since the details were classified, he didn’t know much, but seeing that she held the tally-stick, her ID tag wasn’t cloudy, and her appearance matched the description from the Guild, he judged them to be trustworthy.
“It’s here.”
He handed over a strictly sealed bag. She nodded and gave him the tally-stick as a receipt.
“Things might get noisy east of Liselka soon. It might be a good time for adventurers to earn money, but if you’re looking for stability…”
“I’ll stick to safe-looking jobs in Uroguma. I don’t have the strength you two have.”
“Me too.”
The cleric glanced at the knight.
“I’m just blessed with good companions. I pray that you, too, find good encounters.”
And so, the request was complete.
Eryuk took his reward and headed back to Uroguma.
The story of the boy finding companions and becoming a great adventurer is not one to be told here.
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